


Changes

by Mille_Falcon



Category: H2O: Just Add Water
Genre: F/M, Lewis has a Bad Day, Lewis has a single mum, Mako Island, Merman Lewis, Post-Season/Series 02 AU, fishy secrets, mermaid secrets, merman, original family backstory, sarcastic Lewis as always
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:07:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24503617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mille_Falcon/pseuds/Mille_Falcon
Summary: "Despite being scared beyond all belief he couldn't help but be awed as he observed this strange phenomenon for the first time. The droplets felt cool and tingly as they hit his skin on their way up to the moon. The sensation sent a sudden shiver up his spine and a brief foreboding thought sparked in his mind. This wouldn't...surely not..."A Season 2 AU from "Stormy Weather"
Relationships: Ash Dove/Emma Gilbert, Lewis McCartney/Cleo Sertori, Zane Bennett/Rikki Chadwick
Comments: 18
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. How did he not notice it sooner? He was supposed to be the smart scientific guy, not a dimwit who overlooks something as glaringly simple as a time difference on a program; a program that had so far been as useful as a fishing line with no hook attached. Rikki was right. He was an idiot that got totally ripped off. Lewis only hoped that he could make up for his stupidity by getting to the girls before trouble hit them. It was only a matter of time until the full moon would be directly over Mako, and who knew what would happen to the girls being in the moon pool again at that time. History has proven that magic always produced the unexpected - the good, the bad and the weird.

Lewis always feared the bad. He couldn’t stand the thought of losing the girl that was his entire world due to sheer ignorance. He wouldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t.

“Hang in there, Cleo. I’m coming,” he chanted to himself, saltwater and wind whipping against his face as he zoomed across the inky ocean.

The full moon hung over him ominously like a ticking clock as he approached closer to Mako shore. He shut the engine off as soon as his boat hit sand and dragged his tinny up the shore until it was firmly beached. 

With nothing but a sense of urgency, he ran at full speed through the forest, twigs and branches flicking up on his legs and face in quick painful jabs but he paid them no mind, too focused on getting to the cave entry in time. He paused for breath when he could no longer push forward, head bowing down between his knees. It’s times like these where he’s reminded once again that he should’ve joined a gym. This mermaid stuff was tiring business.

Once his breath was caught he started off again, reaching the rocks and waterfall in what must’ve been the most painfully slow minutes he’d ever experienced. He scrambled down on the slippery rocks and jumped to his feet as soon as he landed on the sand. Making a mad dash, he ran off quickly toward the moon pool entry.

“Cleo! Are you in here?” His voice echoed as he emerged around the corner. He halted suddenly at the sight of the girls in the moon pool, his eyes widening as he noticed their entrancement at the partially revealed moon at the top of volcano and the bubbling water surrounding them. That was not a good sign...

“Guys-“ he started to call out but faltered as soon as their heads snapped in his immediate direction, “-um...uh, glad I found you here, but it might a good idea to leave. Like now.”

“We are not leaving, Lewis.”

“You have to leave, Lewis.”

“We told you, we don’t need your help.”

Lewis shook his head frantically, feeling slightly perturbed by their monotonous voices.

“No, I’m not leaving you guys. Come on. Be reasonable! The full moon is nearly over the moon pool and who knows what effect that will have on you guys! We have to leave!” He pleaded, stepping forward and hand reaching out toward them. This, he soon realised, was a grave mistake.

All of sudden Cleo’s arm shot out aggressively in his direction, commanding a huge gust of wind that literally knocked him off his feet and snatched out his torch from his hands. He watched incredulously as it flew up into the air and disappeared out of the volcano.

“What is going on?!” He cried, the wind picking up more and more, swirling all around him.

“You can’t take us,” Emma spoke measuredly, full of calm certainty. Her arm as well as Rikki’s lifted up in tandem and posed to strike.

Lewis gulped in sudden fear at the power building up in the cave. This wasn’t good. Not good at all. 

A strike of energy burst right next to him, the electricity zinging up the hairs of his neck and back, causing him to stumble to his side. His heart pounded in his ears, the wind now roaring against his head.

“Did you do that...” he eyed them warily, the wind was starting to get too much to bear at this point,“...what is going on?!” he cried.

A quick glance up told him that the moon had almost nearly reached its peak. He was too late. There was no stopping them now. This was all his fault. If only he’d arrive sooner...if only he hadn’t missed that stupid time difference...

All girls moved their arms in synchronisation slowly toward their intended target. Lewis stood back up on his feet trying fight the wind but to no use. It was too strong. 

His feet lifted from the ground, the sudden weightlessness dropping like a stone to his stomach.

“What are you doing?!” He yelled at them out of pure desperation. He was utterly helpless. With nothing near to grasp and no one willing to help, he was quickly thrown up metres into the air right above the moon pool. 

“Put me down!” 

At this moment there was nothing he could do but watch as the moon centred right above him, pulling up strange golden droplets out from the water below him and up towards the sky. Despite being scared beyond all belief he couldn’t help but be awed as he observed this strange phenomenon for the first time. The droplets felt cool and tingly as they hit his skin on their way up to the moon. The sensation sent a sudden shiver up his spine and a brief foreboding thought sparked in his mind. This wouldn’t...surely not...

He didn’t have too much time to ponder more on that thought before he was suddenly flung out of the volcano opening and out towards the eye of a brewing storm. He couldn’t tell whether he was flying or falling but the sensation wasn’t quite one that he wanted to get used to. Time felt like it had slowed down and yet at the same time everything moved too fast to compute anything properly.

It wasn’t too long before he hit ground and darkness over took him. Tomorrow would be a painful day, in more ways than Lewis would ever expect.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis got a bit more than what he bargained for after the events of last night.

The first thing he noticed when he woke was the stick poking up uncomfortably against his back. The second thing...he was cold. And wet. Absolutely soaking wet.

His eyes blinked against the morning sunlight, the combination of light and salty air making his vision blurry. He sat up slowly, pains and aches rattling through his body as if he just did a full body workout. Rubbing at his eyes proved more of a nuisance rather than a help as all it had done was put a bunch of grainy sand in them. He shook his head to try and gather his bearings but as he looked around he couldn’t help but be briefly confused at his surroundings. Looking around feeling very much displaced on the wet sandy beach, he wondered at how he could’ve possibly ended up on what looked like the shore of Mako island...that is until all of the events of last night hit him like a freight train.

His breaths quickened at the memories of being flown around like a rag doll in the air, the wind wrapping around him, the full moon staring down at him as moon pool droplets floated up into...

Shit.

He stumbled to his feet, hands patting down his legs frantically. He slumped in relief at them still being present despite him being wet head to toe. It was a silly thought really. He hadn’t actually been in the moon pool at the time...just above it. He was fine. Just plain old ordinary Lewis with two legs.

He laughed it off and decided to move on from his little freak out and go onto more productive things, such as finding that boat of his so that he could get home. Then, he could have a nice warm shower and make sure the girls were okay. He sure hoped that they weren’t still moonstruck zombies out to kill him. That would surely complicate things. A powerful murderous mermaid as a girlfriend, what a thought that was...

Starting off hopeful, he scoured the shore for any sign of his tinny. But after searching the beach for a good solid hour, he was starting think it might end up being a lost cause. The results of the girls’ sudden power surge was evident in the devastation on the island. Fallen branches and debris covered the beach entirely and the jungle was a gigantic obstacle course of blown over bushes and trees. There was a fairly good chance his boat became victim to the powerful storm last night, which made everything all the more difficult for him.

He collapsed down under a small shelter of trees that had somehow survived the strong winds of last night and groaned in disappointment at the growing hopelessness of his situation.

How was he ever going to get home now? Just sit and wait for rescue? Ironically, he now wished that he actually had been affected by last night’s full moon. At least then he would be able to swim his way home...

Shivering in a huddled ball and drowning in self-pity, he failed to notice the familiar voices of three girls growing closer to his spot. At the sound of a twig snapping, his face shot up and instantly paled in fear at the sight of his three friends, who in his recent memory almost killed him last night. As they approached, all he could think of were irrational thoughts based off the events of last night. Were they still affected? Had the moon set yet? Were they here to finish what they started last night?

“Pl- please don’t hurt me.”

The girls looked on in shock. They had never seen Lewis look so...unsettled. Cleo herself felt as if she had swallowed a rock at the sight of him. She had never felt such guilt at hearing that wavering fear in his voice. Had they done this to him? Did _she_ do this to him?

“Lewis...” she whispered sadly, “ _oh_ Lewis, what happened?”

She approached slowly, arm reaching out to comfort. She almost let out a cry at the flinch he made when she neared him.

“Lewis, it’s us,” she pleaded, “we’re not going to hurt you. _I’m_ not going to hurt you.”

He nodded shakily, internally relieved that the effects of the moon seemed to be over.

“Yeah. Okay. Okay...I know that now,” he breathed out, slumping his tensed up shoulders, “oh man I’m so glad you guys are back to normal.”

“How about we go get you dried up. You look absolutely freezing,” Emma suggested.

“Good idea. I’ll go start a fire,” Rikki volunteered, eager to get away from the overwhelming awkwardness and guilt starting to brew.

“Thanks. As much as I love being cold and soaking wet, it’s probably not a great look isn’t it?”

“I’m so sorry, Lewis. How did this all happen? We can’t remember a thing,” Cleo settled down next to him, almost afraid to find out what she did to her boyfriend under the moon spell. She made sure to keep a little distance to give him space and to avoid springing a tail.

“Well...” he started, shifting in his spot, “once I figured out that I got the moonrise time wrong- which I am so sorry about by the way. I take full responsibility for what happened-”

“Lewis! None of this is your fault. We all could’ve been a lot more cautious. We’re the mermaids here. Not you. It should be up to us to prevent things like this happening. It’s not your responsibility to protect us,” she reasoned with him, upset that her boyfriend blamed himself for something that was clearly not his fault.

“I’m the only one that’s not affected by the moon and water, so of course it’s my responsibility! I have to make sure you guys don’t get into danger when there’s so many things out of your control. I’m not gonna sit by and let something happen to you if I’m able to help!”

“Lewis you could get hurt! You did get hurt. By us! By _me_ ,” she stood up and paced around in distress at the thought of it. She never thought she’d be a danger to anyone, most of all her boyfriend.

“Hey that wasn’t your fault. It’s just all this weird full moon business. _I_ was the one that got you moonstruck in the first place...”

“Guys, we’re getting nowhere with this. Lewis just get on with what happened last night,” Emma interrupted, trying to cut the very palpable tension between the two. There was no need for a fight to spring up from this. The situation was already very messy in the first place.

Lewis nodded her way, thankful for the distraction.

“Right. So I found you guys about to jump off the pier and tried to convince you to come back inside and well, you know how successful that turned out being. So, I chased after you all to Mako hoping I’d be able to get you home before you were in the moon pool during the full moon overhead and well...when I arrived let’s just say you weren’t very reciprocal to the idea of going home and before I could do anything you guys went all kamikaze with your powers and threw me out of the volcano.”

“Jesus, Lewis, how are you even alive?” Emma gasped, stunned at the events that unfolded last night. How did things escalate that quickly?

“You know, I wondered that myself but didn’t think too much about it. Don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth,” he laughed shakily, still a little affected by the fact that he could’ve well been killed last night.

“Lewis...” Cleo moved forward, but before she could do or say anything Rikki interrupted.

“Fire’s ready! Time to strip down, do you know you look like a drowned rat?”

“Strip down?” Lewis questioned incredulously.

Rikki only shrugged and smiled cheekily in return.

“How else are you gonna get dry?”

Lewis’ answering sigh was more than enough to show just how enthused he was at the suggestion. This was quickly turning out to be one of the worst mornings he had ever had. Oh what he would do to just get transported straight home right now, but this was the price he paid for making a crucial mistake last night.

“Could you guys just maybe...um...turn around?”

* * *

Walking home with singed pants, sandy hair and weighed down bones was not the most comfortable experience Lewis ever had. It nearly was up there with sleeping completely soaked on wet sand and sticks. He couldn’t possibly look more forward to having that nice warm shower and collapsing on his bed. Today had been a most trying day.

Opening the front door of his home was the biggest feeling of relief, but it was interrupted as he bumped into somebody on his way in.

“Lewis!” his mum cried hysterically, wrapping her arms firmly around him, “...oh thank god you’re alright!”

He winced in guilt at having worrying his mum. He completely forgot that she probably would’ve been freaking out the entire time he wasn’t home.

“Sorry, mum. I didn’t mean to be out so late.”

She pulled back and caressed his face softly, eyes filling with concern as she analysed his entire appearance.

“What happened to you? Your pants, Lewis...” she gasped as she looked down, “...they’re completely burnt through!”

“Um...uh...” he flailed, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation to all of this, “...I- I went out for a late night fish! But um...the engine played up and kinda singed my pants a little?” he cringed at his questioning tone. He definitely wasn’t the best liar. Luckily his mum was too worried about his wellbeing to pick up on anything.

“Why didn’t you call? Oh I have been worried sick!” She pulled him in for another hug, nearly squeezing the death out of him.

“Sorry,” he patted his mum’s shoulder, brushing her blonde greying hair out of his face, “I got a bit stranded in the storm, but my friends found me and got me home safely.”

“Oh honey, I’m just glad you’re okay. But no more late night fishing, okay? It’s way too dangerous for someone your age. What were you even thinking going out that late?” she half scolded.

“Ah,” he shrugged softly, “you know me, never could resist a good fish.”

His mother swatted at his arm at his nonchalant behaviour.

“Lewis James McCartney, don’t you dare make a joke out of this,” she rebuked firmly, pausing thoughtfully for a moment, “you’re grounded from fishing for a week.”

“What! Mum, wait-”

“No. No complaints. Your actions have consequences, Lewis. No fishing.”

He slumped and groaned in indignation. Great his day just kept on getting better and better.

“It’s not like I could fish anyway, don’t even know where my boat is...” he mumbled as he walked passed her, heading towards the bathroom for a much needed clean, “I’m gonna go have a shower.”

“Good idea, honey. I’ll go cook you something for lunch. You poor thing, you must be starving!”

“Thanks mum. Yeah that’ll be good,” he sighed, his stomach grumbling in a reminder that he forgot to eat dinner last night. That’s just one more thing to add to his long list of problems today.

He closed the bathroom door on his way in and nearly recoiled in shock as he spotted his reflection in the vanity mirror. Disheveled wasn’t quite the word he’d use, more like a complete and utter wreck. Someone could’ve easily mistaken him for a homeless delinquent with the scratches and cuts covering every inch of his face, his clothes torn apart and burnt beyond repair. He’d have to chuck them in the bin now with how ruined they were from the storm and Rikki’s handy work. Pity. They were his favourite shorts.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, he turned away and stripped out of his clothes. He winced while taking off his shirt, noticing a nice big nasty bruise on his left shoulder. That didn’t look too good. He’d have to rub some arnica cream to help heal it up. He wondered how many more covered his body. With the way he felt he suspected there was quite a few of them up his back and down his legs. It was a miracle in itself that he didn’t break anything, not to mention somehow managing to still be alive after being been blown off the face of the earth. He’d have to start buying lottery tickets.

Turning the taps on for the shower, he waited a few moments for the water to warm up before jumping in. The heating system wasn’t quite the best in his house and it usually took a bit of time for the hot water to kick in. Lewis had been pondering plans on how to improve it and wished that he had gotten onto the upgrades sooner. It was a pain having to be patient right at this moment.

As steam started drifting into the air, he took it as an instant sign that the water was ready and placed himself right under the head of the shower. He relaxed immediately under the silky hot water. It flowed evenly over his face and shoulders at just the right temperature and soothed away all the aches and pains that ailed his body. The moment was glorious and everything he dreamed of since he woke up on that godforsaken beach.

But unfortunately the pleasure was to be short-lived. A sudden zing of energy came out of nowhere and zapped right through him just at that moment and not even a second later he found himself falling facedown onto the bathroom floor.

“ _Ow_...”

His body screamed at him at the sudden collision with the tiled floor. Of course with his luck today he just had to slip in the shower when he was already covered in an amalgamation of bruises. _What’s one more injury to add?_ He thought sarcastically.

He pushed himself upward, wary of the wet slippery floor. But as soon as he tried to lift himself up, he found that his legs failed to listen to his command. Looking down to see what the hell was going on with his legs and wondering why they suddenly felt so weird...he froze in horror as his eyes caught sight of _it_.

“Wha...?” he gasped out in confusion, unable to take his eyes away off the blue scaly fin that was attached to where his legs should’ve been. He blinked once. Twice. Yet it still remained, despite his hope that he maybe just suddenly developed an overactive imagination.

This was bad...this was _extremely_ bad.

He frowned down at the blue shimmering scales, slightly confused that they were a different colour to the girls. Did that mean something? Was he different to the others in some way? Or was he just overthinking things? Maybe Mako just thought blue was his colour...

His hand reached out to touch them and he shivered when he felt the realness of them. He could feel his fingers brushing against the smooth scales of the tail, the sensation of touch being sent to his brain just as if it were any other limb attached to his body. Oh that was freaky...

He squeezed his eyes shut trying to calm down his breathing. There was no point in panicking. Panicking would get him nowhere. No need to panic. Just breathe. Cool as a cucumber, Lewis. In and out. No panicking. He wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t panicking-

He was panicking.

None of this should’ve happened in the first place. It just didn’t make sense! He wasn’t even in the moon pool last night! He was wet this morning and still had his legs! What changed? Why did this happen? Why did this happen to _him_?

_Knock. Knock._

“Lewis, are you okay in there? I heard a loud bang earlier on.”

His eyes shot to the door in alarm. He couldn’t remember if he locked it or not and went rigid with fear at the fact that his mum was possibly one turned door knob away from discovering this new development of his. She couldn’t find out about this. Not now. Not ever.

“Um...yeah I’m okay,” he croaked out, cursing internally at his voice crack. Yeah that wasn’t suspicious at all...

“You sure? You sound a bit shaken.”

“Yeah I just...knocked one of the shampoo bottles over. All good,” he thought on spot, voice thankfully coming out a little stronger.

“Okay then. Well lunch is nearly ready. Don’t be too long in the shower otherwise your chicken toastie will go cold.”

“Thanks Mum. I won’t be too long.”

He sighed in relief at hearing her walk away from the door. Crisis averted. He looked down at his tail once more and shook his head at the complications this presented. His life was now forever changed. No more swimming in public. No more showering peacefully. Doing the dishes. Brushing his teeth. Drinking straight out of a cup. No more fishing. The list of dangers were endless. God how did the girls deal with this on a day to day basis? He’d barely been a mermaid for a minute and he was nearly crawling out of his skin with anxiety.

Not wanting to sit and stare at the tail much longer, he stretched out and turned off the water to the shower. He looked around for a towel to dry off and almost groaned at seeing it on the other side of the bathroom hanging by the sink. Resigning himself to the pain, he dragged his body against the cold tiled floor and frantically grabbed at the towel as soon as it was within reach. Rubbing it vigorously against his tail, he felt like this thing could never dry quick enough and had a brief terrifying thought that he’d maybe be stuck like this permanently and be sea-bound for life. But he soon chastised himself at the ridiculousness of it, full knowing that the girls hadn’t had that problem so why should he. His heart started pumping out of his chest when he started to feel a tingle run up his spine, watching in awe as his body turned to water for one moment and then in the next reappearing back to his normal human self, legs and all. His shoulders relaxed at finally being back to good regular old Lewis, toes wriggling and feet flexing just for good measure. He patted at his knees reassuringly and then jumped to his feet, wrapping the towel around him to cover up.

As soon as the coast was clear he dashed out the door to get to his room, mentally planning his next steps on how to deal with this new fishy condition.

Completely dressed and mind kinda in order, he grabbed his crisped up shorts and patted down the pockets for his phone. Clicking down on the numbers in a familiar sequence, he took a deep breath and then lifted up the phone to his ear.

“Hey Cleo...yeah um look there’s been a recent...development. I can’t really talk about it now over the phone but can you rally up the girls for me and have them meet me at the Juicenet cafe say...in about an hour? It’s really important...” he paced back and forth on his carpeted floor, nervously awaiting her answer, “okay great. Yeah um...let’s just say it involves something that happened last night but I’ll see you soon. Talk about it then. Okay, bye,” he hung up and flung himself immediately onto his bed.

How the hell was he going to explain everything to the girls? He dreaded to think what their reaction would be. Didn’t they have enough going on as it was with their out of control powers? And now he was going to add one more complication to the mix...

Well he had no choice now. He had one hour. One hour until he admitted to girls what happened to him and solidified the reality of him being a fish boy for the rest of his life.

When did his life become such a mess?

He stuffed his pillow into his face and hoped that for just one moment he could forget everything that had happened to him in the last 24 hours. But, alas, his mind betrayed him and could not stop running his thoughts of potential consequences all at once at breakneck speed. Even when he tried with all of his might to block them out, a reminder always seemed to leak through. It was sadly for him, nothing but a losing race.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis makes a little scene at the Juicenet cafe and Cleo confronts him about his weird behaviour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has created a chapter plan for this story and is not relying on pure improvisation anymore? This gal! 🤗 I feel like such a big girl now 😂. Be prepared for actual plot coming your way!

His fingers tapped against the table and knee vibrated up and down, nerves getting the better of him as he waited around for the girls. They should have gotten there by now...

Checking his watch again for the umpteenth time, his eyes scanned around the bustling cafe wary of every passing customer nearing him with their filled to the top drinks in hand. Why did he choose here to meet of all places? Who knew it could be a bloody minefield!

His eyes snapped forward to the entry as he heard the beads at the door rattling. Walking in through together, all the girls looked around searchingly until they finally spotted him at the booth in the far corner, nervously fidgeting with a napkin in his hand.

With Cleo slipping into the seat next to him and the girls taking the place right across, he sent them a strained smile in greeting.

“Hi guys.”

“Hey, so...what was so important you needed to talk about?”

“Yeah, Cleo said you seemed pretty rattled over the phone. What’s up?” Emma added, head turning to him tilted up in curiosity.

“Um...” he looked around cautiously, his eyes darting towards every sudden movement in the room and any potential spillage, “...well...” he gulped. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea...

“Come on, Lewis. Spit it out already. We all have lives to get back to, you know.”

“Rikki!” Emma hissed at her, hitting her in the arm at her rudeness.

“What?” Rikki’s hands lifted up out of confusion, “its not _my_ fault he was taking too long to speak properly,” she defended, arms now crossed.

“Just give him some time, Rikki. It’s obviously very serious, right?” Cleo turned toward him, her eyes searching him earnestly.

He couldn’t help but feel like he was trapped under her stare, like he was suddenly under a microscope being studied meticulously for any strange or weird behaviour. He began to second guess himself now, only just realising that he hadn’t thought through properly how the girls would react to him having a tail. Would they be surprised? Happy? Angry? Disappointed? God would they _laugh_ at him? He didn’t know that he could cope with that right now...

“Um...Lewis...?”

All the girls were looking at him, a mixture of growing curiosity and concern. They glanced at each other questioningly and then turned back to their friend, worry increasing all the more when his silence continued.

He couldn’t do this. Not _here_ at least.

He jolted up from his seat, the girls jumping in brief shock at the sudden movement.

“You know what, this was a bad idea,” he confessed moving out of the booth, “sorry guys I just...I just gotta go,” he explained vaguely, the fear of being exposed getting all too much for him.

He was kidding himself. He was nowhere near ready to tell the girls, not when he had hardly come to terms with all this transformation business himself.

So like a coward he ran straight for the door.

“Lewis!”

“We just got here-“

“What is going on-”

Ignoring the girls’ cries of shock and confusion, he darted through the maze of tables in the cafe and headed directly to the exit. However, in the midst of his hurry he failed to notice Wilfred walking through the other side of the entry, a tray full of drinks held in his hand all of which was quickly thrown over the two of them in their sudden collision.

_Oh no._

...10

Lewis stood eyes wide open, frozen in shock at the feel of the cold red liquid dripping down the front of his shirt, soaking right through to his skin. It was as if everything was in slow motion as he watched the droplets hit the floor, mouth gaping like a fish as the realisation hit him.

He was going to change.

...9

Instincts kicking right in, he ran like his life depended on it, mentally counting down the seconds until he’d be a literal fish out of water.

...8

“Woah, Lewis. What’s the rush?” the cafe owner called out incredulously, shaking his head as he bent down to pick up his fallen tray and promptly winced at the sight of the red mess of cranberry boosters on the floor. Great. Another waste of produce and more time spent cleaning up.

The girls looked on in shock as they watched their friend hurriedly leave such a scene. Almost simultaneously, they turned to each other with matching looks of confusion painted on their faces.

“Well...that was weird,” Emma spoke slowly, almost unsure that what happened really happened.

“Way to voice the obvious but yeah...something seems awfully fishy about this whole situation,” Rikki commented suspiciously, eyes turning onto Cleo for answers.

She could only shrug at them in response, equally as baffled at the whole situation as they were.

...7

Lewis sprinted outside, his only hope being that he could make it to the dock in time and dive off into the water, but it felt as if it was hundreds of metres at this point to get to there.

...6

He barged shoulders with faceless strangers, their yells of annoyance falling on completely deaf ears. There was no time for apologies.

...5

The water was just mere metres away from view. His legs burned in overexertion, adrenaline pumping blood through his ears, roaring at him to go faster.

...4

He had to make it. He just had to. He couldn’t let himself be exposed on his first day of being a fish.

...3

Just a few more steps and he could jump.

...2

He leaped into the air, the salty breeze barging into his senses, his pulse pumping through his fingertips.

...1

The water assaulted him in a stinging cold splash and his equilibrium was instantly knocked off kilter as the bubbling of his transformation took place, blinding him for a few panicking seconds as he didn’t know which way was up or down. Once the water cleared, his flailing calmed down and his body stilled as he adjusted to the feeling of being able to see underwater without the familiar sting in his eyes. Staring down at the newly acquired fin, he moved it around experimentally, mentally sighing at the fact that the morning earlier in the shower was unfortunately not a one off incident.

This would take some time to get used to.

Not wanting to stay any longer near the dock and risk being spotted, he put his arms in front of him and kicked the tail into gear. It reacted almost instinctively, pushing him forward at a speed that he had never experienced before in the water. The rush was instant, butterflies dancing around in his stomach, the water flying past in a roar. He wasn’t quite sure if he liked the feeling or not.

Feeling relatively a safe distance away from prying eyes, he surfaced with a gasp, panic gripping him with all these unfamiliar and quite frankly bizarre sensations. He was caught in a constant fight with his eyes actively trying to avoid looking at the tail only to be betrayed by them weirdly getting drawn to it. He could feel how strong it was, the length of the tail somehow looking even longer than what he had previously observed of the girls’. The ridge on the back of it was darker in colour than the rest of the tail, the gradient getting lighter as it came around to his front side. The blue colour of it almost matched the ocean, maybe a possible genetic adaptation to camouflage in the water. Interesting.

Shaking head to get rid of his analytical thoughts, he ducked his head back underwater and decided to head to the only place he knew where there would be no one to disturb him.

It didn’t take long before he was dragging himself up the beach of his secret fishing spot, huffing and puffing as he lugged the heavy tail through the sand. Why did it have to bloody weigh a ton?

As soon as he arrived on dry sand and well away from the crashing waves, he turned and collapsed onto his back, his eyes closing against the glaring sunlight beating down on him.

He laid there until the sun could dry him, feeling helpless that he could do nothing more but wait. Minutes ticked by like hours, giving him way too much time to think about this whole merman situation and it’s consequences. What was he supposed to tell the girls now that he chickened out on telling them? He couldn’t help but let guilt sink deep down into his stomach at the realisation that he really wasn’t ready to reveal this secret to the girls. They had enough going on at the moment with their lives, especially Cleo. He didn’t want to burden them with this yet and have them thinking that it was their fault when to him it obviously wasn’t. He’d just have to wait for the right time. Maybe once they got their powers under control.

For now he would just have to deal with this on his own and try to avoid the water at all cost until he could figure everything out and get used to this new change in his life. He couldn’t help but hear the scientific part of him whispering about how much easier it would be now to test things out, seeing that he had instant access to samples and didn’t have to nag the girls anymore for toenail clippings, hair and whatnot. Maybe he could run through a few tests to see if he could somehow help the girls with their powers-

Powers! Of course, how could he forget? He must have some sort of powers! That came with the whole mermaid gig right?

Eager to find out, he stretched out his hand over the tail curling his fingers in a similar fashion to Rikki, hoping to get himself to dry quicker. Once his hand finally clenched into a fist, he frowned when he could not feel any change in temperature and realised quickly that his hand wasn’t actually doing anything. Okay. Heat power was a no then.

Loosening his hand out of the fist, he stretched his fingers outward instead of inward this time and twisted his wrist out, focusing on the water molecules on his tail. Once again. No change. Water control was out. He sighed, disappointed that he didn’t have that one. Could’ve been useful...

That must mean he had Emma’s power then, seeing as it was the only one left to try. Lifting his arm up one last time, he held his hand out, fingers pulled together in a stop motion towards a nearby puddle. The water remained liquified, not a single frozen drop.

“Oh great. Just _great_...” he groaned, the back of his head hitting the sand bank as he dropped down indignantly, “...wasn’t that a big help!” he spoke to the air sarcastically.

What sort of useless merman was he?

He felt sorry for his pasty white skin, full knowing that it would be burnt to a crisp in no time with being out in the sun for this long unprotected. Great. Bruises, no powers and now sunburn. What else was next?

After spending what felt like an eternity in the heat, a familiar tingle ran through his body. Clothes back on his shoulders and tail gone out of sight, he sighed in relief at having his legs back. Jumping up to his feet, he took a quick look around before spotting a nice shaded spot up on a rock just a few metres away. He closed his eyes in pleasure as soon as he reached the shade, sitting himself on the rock to have a moment in peace. Just focusing on the sound of the waves crashing onto the sand and the feel of the wind brushing against his face, it was enough to clear his mind of all recent changes and anxieties. Letting out a nice long drawn breath, his shoulders relaxed and eyes reopened to watch the surf. It was just him there in that moment. No worrying of the future. Just focusing on the here and now...

“I thought I might find you here,” a familiar voice interrupted behind him.

Flinching in surprise, he turned around and instantly relaxed as his girlfriend settled down next to him on the rock.

“Hey,” he whispered, looking at her almost apologetically.

“Hey,” she whispered back, her hand pulling back a stray hair behind her ear, “so...” she clapped her hands together, knees fidgeting back and forth almost awkwardly.

“So...” he echoed back, looking back to the waves and avoiding her eyes.

“What was all that about earlier?”

He took a deep breath in at the question, expecting it to come but still had no idea how he could he answer it without arousing suspicion.

“Um yeah...” he let the air run out of his chest trying to rummage through his mind to come up with a plausible excuse, “...I guess...I just freaked out?” he finished off lamely.

Cleo only grew more concerned at his response.

“You’re not...still scared of us are you? About what we did?” she asked timidly, holding her fingers near her chest and fiddling with them, “you know I’d never do that purposely to you, right?”

“No- no. That’s not what this is about-”

“You said over the phone it had something to do with last night. You’re not hurt, are you? Is there something wrong?” she pushed on.

“No. Uh...I...” he gulped, flailing at what to say.

“You know you can tell me anything right? I can deal with whatever it is you’re going through. I just want to make sure that you’re okay. You just completely disappeared on us, Lewis! I’d never seen you so spooked.”

“I’m fine. Really I am.”

“You can’t even look at me.”

He winced in guilt at that. He didn’t mean to hurt her with all this avoidance, but he wasn’t sure he could lie to her with her eyes staring into him like that. He wanted nothing more than to be honest with her, but there was just too much going on in his head right now to reveal the truth yet. But...maybe he didn’t have to lie exactly.

“It’s just...I can’t tell you what’s going with me right now. It’s complicated. _Really_ complicated. And you have got enough complications going on as it is with your new powers and your mum,” he softened his voice in that last part, “I don’t want to overwhelm you with something like this at the moment,” he took her hand in his, finally able to look her in the eyes, “but I promise I will tell you when the time is right, when _I’m_ actually ready to deal with it myself...”

Silence followed as Cleo contemplated the words he just poured out to her, trying to read in between the lines and figure out what he was not saying.

“You sure it’s got nothing to do with these new powers of ours?” she emphasised to him pointedly, wanting reassurance that he wasn’t lying about being afraid of her.

“I promise,” he answered sincerely.

She looked at him for a moment, scrutinising the slightest change in his facial features. She dimmed when she realised that he wasn’t going to tell her what was going on with him, but she knew if she pushed it would only just push him away and force him to tell her more lies. Resigned with having to be patient with him, she nodded her head.

“Well, okay then...I guess I can wait. I don’t like it. I’m your girlfriend, Lewis. I want to help you and make sure that everything is okay. But...I trust you.”

He let out a relieved breath, thankful that he had such an understanding girlfriend.

“You’re the best, you know that right?” he smiled at her, squeezing her hand in his.

She smiled back at him bashfully, head tilted down to her shoulder.

“I’m not so sure...but it never hurts to hear it,” she bumped shoulders with him playfully.

“I’ll make sure to tell you it more often then,’ he bumped back.

She kissed his cheek and took his other hand in hers, resting them both together between their thighs. Rubbing his knuckles softly every now and then, she let herself relax as they watched the waves together and enjoyed a moment’s silence.

Looking down at her, wind dancing in her hair and smile so soft and whimsical, he couldn’t help but think maybe everything would work out okay in the end...just as long as he always had her by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn’t help myself and had to add a little Clewis fluff at the end there ☺️. Thank you so much for the great response to this story! I love seeing all your comments and I hope to meet all your expectations with this story! I’ll see you guys next week with a new chapter xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lewis suffers his first day back at school after his transformation and faces an unexpected interrogation at the Juicenet cafe. The girls start to get suspicious...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry for the bit of delay with this chapter. I’ve made myself a rule that I have to have at least one more chapter written before I post the next one and the next chapter after this one turned out way longer than I expected. I’m actually thinking of splitting it up in two parts which means quicker consecutive updates but not as long chapters. What are your thoughts on this? They’ll still be 2000 - 3000 words per chapter. Anyway I hope you enjoy this next part, keep the comments up and let me know how you feel about the story so far 😊

_Knock. Knock._

“Morning darling, it’s time for you to wake up now. I’ve got breakfast ready for you downstairs. Better get down there quick before the boys eat it all up,” his mum called out through the door, forcing him out of his deep slumber.

His body groaned in protest at having to get up, rolling off the bed with one of his ever so graceful landings, blankets dragged down with him as always. He stumbled out of the entangled sheets and shuffled sluggishly over to the bathroom. Barely half awake, he squinted at the mirror once he came in front of it and rubbed at his eyes to get rid of the sleep in them. Fumbling for the tap handle at the sink to turn the cold water on, he proceeded to splash his face with the water hoping it would bring some alertness and didn’t at all think about the consequences of his actions. He blindly reached out for his toothbrush as the cool water dripped down his face, his mouth dry and stinking of morning breath. Going along with his normal morning routine he attempted to squeeze a bit of toothpaste on the brush and sighed in annoyance when he realised it was nearly empty. Rolling up the end of the tube and pushing it upwards, he was just starting to see some paste when...a shiver ran through his entire body.

“Huh...? _Woah-_ ”

He collapsed to the floor, tail flying out and splatting hard against the tiles and promptly groaned at the feeling of déjà vu. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, now fully awake and body throbbing, and stayed there for a few seconds before finally building up the courage to look down. His tail was laid out fully in front of him, attached and very much real.

“Right,” he sighed disappointedly, thinking—more like hoping—that yesterday had been one big fever dream.

Not dwelling too much on wishful thoughts, he sat himself up and reached out for the hand towel near his head. He couldn’t help but bemoan at how small it was to help him dry off. Why did he always have to end up in these situations when he got wet?

It wasn’t the best start to his morning, especially since all it did was remind him of how easy it was to forget the risks involved with being a merperson. How could he be so careless? Just like that, his life could be brought to ruin by one single drop of water, one brief slip of mind. He had to be on constant guard now. No more forgetfulness. No more obliviousness. This was his life now and he had to be careful.

Once finally dried off, he didn’t even try to brush his teeth again, not wanting to risk getting wet and having to go through the whole tail process again. The thought of having unclean teeth was not really an appealing one and kinda grossed him out a little, but there was nothing to be done about it. He’d have to re-evaluate his whole hygiene routine really which he did not look forward to experiencing in the slightest. But that thought could be put on hold for now.

First, he’d have to focus on how to deal with those two chaotic little brothers of his.

“Mum! Fynn just knocked his drink all over my toast!”

“Oh stop whinging you crybaby. It’s just a little juice.”

“Boys! Will you stop shouting please?”

Oh what fun this was going to be...

Taking a few hesitant steps into the kitchen dining area, he crept along the corners trying not to be spotted, hands reaching for the plate of French toast just recently made by his mum.

“Ah Lewis!”...Oops. Busted...“glad you’re up! Can you please wipe down the mess the boys made? I’ve got to get to work early so I don’t have enough time to clean everything up...” her hands patted down her pockets, “...shoot! Where are my keys?”

His mum turned her attention away from him in her distraction to search for her missing keys.

Lewis stared fearfully at the wet mess that his brother’s were residing in, orange juice dripping off the edge of the breakfast bar, the drops echoing in his ears mockingly as they hit the floor.

“Hey Lewis! Can you get me some more juice? This dimwit just knocked mine over-”

“What? No I didn’t! You did it yourself! And all over my breakfast!” Jamie exclaimed indignantly, hands dramatically pointed towards his half eaten soggy toast.

“Ugh! Why do you always have to be so dramatic?”

“Dramatic?!”

“Uh...” Lewis looked back and forth between the two, slowly backing himself away in the hopes that he could avoid the whole situation. While they were distracted in their fight, he snatched a piece of toast and made a run for it.

There was no way he was risking himself right in front of his little brothers. Not only were they the most insufferable kids of existence but they were also the biggest blabbermouths in all of history. He remembered the time he tried to organise a surprise birthday party for their mum and swore the boys to secrecy of it, only for them to spill the details of it the morning of her birthday out of pure excitement. He learned his lesson that day to never trust Fynn and Jamie with anything of serious importance. They just weren’t mature enough yet to understand the seriousness of keeping a secret. Although...it would be momentarily amusing to see them actually shut up for once, and springing a tail right in front of them would surely do a good trick of it. He shook his head at the funny thought and made his way to the front door. Hopefully his mum wouldn’t kill him too much leaving all that mess behind.

He put the toast in between teeth and quickly grabbed his sneakers, teetering on one foot and hand against the wall while he tried to get them on. He didn’t waste any time, swooping his backpack off the floor and exiting promptly out the door without even checking if he had all the things needed for his classes today at-

He stopped instantly in his track.

School! How the hell was he meant to deal with _school?!_

Dealing with his chaotic household was one thing, navigating through a whole wave of unpredictable students was a whole another challenge. His mind raced with all the risks he’d have to face while his feet automatically took him down the familiar path to his bus stop. He briefly wondered if it would be a better idea to just skip out on school and take his losses, but immediately shut down the idea. He wasn’t really the truant kind and he wasn’t going to start being one. He valued his education way too much.

Taking a deep breath in, he chastised himself for his panic. _Get a hold of yourself, Lewis. The girls deal with this thing every single day and you don’t see them missing a day out of fear. Even Cleo, who suffered the worst at first with the whole mermaid situation, was able to suck it up and go to school just as normal without complaint._

Feeling slightly more reassured, he grabbed a hold of his schoolbag straps and stepped himself up onto the bus when it arrived.

“Here goes nothing,” he breathed.

He arrived at school with no incident, but that didn’t stop him from imagining every possible worst case scenario whilst travelling on the bus. The time that it took to get to the school was both excruciatingly long and yet way too fast for his liking.

He made his way through the school gates, making sure to keep his distance from as many people as possible, flinching every single time someone brushed past him or bumped into him in their hurry to get to their friends.

_Stop being ridiculous, Lewis. You’re affected by water, not by people._

Speaking of water...

He halted suddenly at the sight of the courtyard’s lawn being watered by a large sprinkler system. Backing a couple of steps away, he tried to mentally remap his way to his locker and decided to take the concrete pavement route, instead of cutting through the grass as he normally would. On his detour he managed to spot Cleo in his path, talking to some girl he hadn’t seen around school before. Hoping it would provide a much needed distraction from the amount of water surrounding him, he went up to introduce himself.

“Lewis!” Cleo perked up, “this is...” she turned to the red-headed girl she’d been chatting to, head tilted in uncertainty.

“Charlotte,” the girl filled in with a smile.

“Charlotte,” Cleo reaffirmed confidently.

“Hi,” he squeaked out awkwardly, just noticing the damp dripping patch of water sticking to the front of her clothes. He fiddled with his bag strap, trying to make his hands look busy so he didn’t have to offer a handshake.

“Hi,” she whispered back.

“Um...” he eyed the water on her blouse cautiously, “so what happened to you?”

“Oh, sprinkler just jumped out in front of me,” she laughed.

Remembering Cleo right beside him, a scenario clicked into place and he realised what must’ve happened before he arrived in.

“Really?” he turned knowingly to his girlfriend. She smiled sheepishly in guilt, giving all the confirmation he needed about her losing control of her powers.

That reminded him. He needed to figure out a way to help the girls with this problem of theirs. The quicker he figured out a way to solve their power issue, the quicker he could reveal his own little conundrum to them. At least, that was the way he saw it...

“Hm...well we should get going, but nice to meet you,” he wrapped up promptly, placing his hands on Cleo’s shoulders and directing her away from the conversation so that he could chat with her privately.

“Yeah, you too.”

“Oh! The art room...” Cleo remembered, turning back towards Charlotte.

“Ah- um, don’t worry I’ll find it,” she reassured half-heartedly.

“Okay...”

“I’ll see you around sometime,” Charlotte farewelled hopefully.

“Yeah, you got it,” he turned back briefly, mind too focused on fixing his problem to give a proper goodbye.

He tucked Cleo into his shoulder, smiling at the comfort it gave him to feel her in his arms.

“So...still having a power issue I see?” he prompted.

She rolled her eyes at him and sighed in exasperation.

“Yeah, having no luck I’m afraid. Even when I try just the smallest thing it all gets blown out of nowhere! I think Emma and Rikki are fairing much the same as well.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out. We’ll get through this,” he rubbed her shoulders soothingly as they walked to their lockers together.

“Yeah. Sure,” she replied, not sounding very convinced, shrugging out of his arms to grab her books from her locker.

“Why don’t we all meet together after school?” he suggested, leaning his head next to her door, “we can discuss ways of how to test the extent of these new powers of yours.”

“Yeah, I guess,” she lifted up her shoulders, books in arms, “me, Emma and Rikki were already thinking about going to the Juicenet this arvo. We can meet there?”

Lewis gulped at the memories of yesterday, vividly remembering the spilled juice drenching his shirt.

“Um...yeah,” he shook his head, trying to gather his wits, “yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

He opened his locker and grabbed his books just as the warning bell rang to get to class.

“Well, I’ll see you at lunch?”

“Yep, see ya then.”

With a kiss on both respected cheeks, they both departed in opposite directions to their classes.

Despite his resolve of going to school, he couldn’t help but regret the decision. His body was on constant alert for any sudden water surprises, eyes taking note of each and every exit as he walked into the classrooms and mind calculating the closest places to hide if any unseen incidents arose. Chemistry was a total catastrophe. He could barely hear Mr Tremblay talk about the changing movement of molecules at various temperatures, for his entire focus was absorbed by the various beakers of liquids resting on everyone’s work bench. Everyone lifted their beakers up carelessly, eagerly placing them on top of the Bunsen burners to conduct their experiments. As most watched on in fascination at the liquids changing from the heated temperature, Lewis could only stare in fear at the abundance of liquid and unpredictable hands moving all around him. He almost asked the teacher if he could go to sick bay with how twisted his stomach felt.

Needless to say he bursted out of the room as soon as the bell rang.

How was he supposed to deal with this for the rest of his life? He’d end up in a psych ward well before the end of week at this rate.

Cleo couldn’t help but frown at his tight posture and the way his eye kept darting back and forth as they sat together at lunch.

“Are you alright?”

His head snapped instantly away from the student drinking from the water bubbler and focused on her concerned tone. Head nodding up and down shakily, he tried to give her convincing smile.

“Yeah- yeah I’m fine.”

“You sure? You’ve barely eaten your sandwich,” she commented, pointing out the untouched lunch in his lap.

“Oh, uh...right,” he grabbed at it and took a bite right out of it, the bread swallowing dry down his throat.

“You seem terribly out of sorts today...” Cleo observed, gently grasping his shoulder and rubbing at it tenderly,

“Yeah, um...I guess I’ve got a lot going on my mind, speaking of which...” he grabbed out one of his many notebooks out of his bag, “I’ve got some ideas on where to start on the whole power thing. I was thinking if we headed out to-”

“Lewis, I don’t really wanna talk about that right now.”

“Oh! Um, yeah that’s fine. Probably a good idea since Emma and Rikki aren’t here. Hate having to repeat myself anyway,” he joked half-heartedly.

The lunch continued to be a fairly awkward affair, mostly filled with an air of unsaid thoughts as the both of them danced around each other’s touchy subjects.

It wasn’t long until the school day was over, thankfully without incident, but with plenty of panic induced thoughts. He guessed he could say it was a somewhat successful day, having gotten through his first day back at school without springing a tail.

Deciding to take his time walking to the Juicenet cafe, he mulled over how he was going to investigate the girls powers without accidentally risking himself. His scientific mind kept battling with his cautious side, knowing full well that he’d have to get the girls to test out their powers over water and observe them doing it. That was the only way that he could get the proper information on the extent of their new powers. The only problem was that the girls had no control, allowing for way too many variables to happen that could end up with him in a tail incident. Maybe he could get them to test it on objects instead of water...

Meanwhile, Rikki, Emma and Cleo arrived early at the cafe and used the time they had alone to discuss a topic that had all been on their minds recently - Lewis.

“He has been acting real weird lately.”

“I mean, it is Lewis we’re talking about here, he is the biggest weirdo of the century. You’re gonna have to be more specific.”

“Haven’t you noticed he’s been a bit...I don’t know, anxious?”

“Yeah that whole incident at the Juicenet cafe yesterday was weird. But I guess it has something to do with the fact we almost killed him the other day? That has to have spooked him.”

“No, no it’s not that. I talked to him afterwards and he said it had nothing to do with our powers.”

“Are you sure he’s not just lying? He probably doesn’t want to hurt your feelings and is trying to hide how scared he is.”

Emma kicked Rikki under the table, subtly shaking her head and sending her a warning look.

“No. He didn’t seem like he was lying, and he promised he’d tell me what’s going when he was ready,” Cleo sighed, stirring her smoothie with her straw, “...but I’m really worried. He hasn’t been himself since the full moon and I feel like he’s almost...distancing himself from me.”

“Don’t worry, Cleo. I’m sure it’s not like that at all. Lewis loves you more than anything.”

“Yeah it’s almost sickening-”

“Anyway, shouldn’t he be getting here soon?”

“Yeah, he wants to talk about our powers,” Cleo slumped down onto the table, her voice dripping with unbridled enthusiasm.

“Maybe we can push him a little about what’s going on. With all three of us on the job, he’s sure to spill his guts,” Rikki suggested a little too eagerly.

“I don’t know...”

“Hey guys,” Lewis interrupted.

All girls heads snapped up at once and looked at him like deers caught in headlights. He eyed them cautiously, worried about their suspicious behaviour. Did they suspect something? Was he too obvious today in his avoidance of water?

“Hey Lewis,” Cleo greeted him finally.

“So,” he settled down into the free chair and put his bag aside, “has anyone else had their powers go a bit too far?”

He tried to rid the suspicion in his mind that they were on to something about his secret, focusing his attention instead on the topic of their powers hoping he was just imagining things.

“Like what?”

“Have you done anything really extreme lately?”

“No.”

“I don’t see what all the drama’s about. So what if we got some new powers?” Rikki interrupted in her usual blasé manner.

Lewis looked at her incredulously, hardly believing her audacity when not even a day previously she had witnessed the result of her power which ended up ruining his favourite pair of pants!

“Your powers have increased off the scale!” he reminded her emphatically, “that last full moon had some very rare planetary alignments...”

“Again with the planetary alignments-“

“It has to mean something...” he didn’t understand how she could be so oblivious to the seriousness of this situation, “...and until I figure out what, you need to learn some control. You don’t know what you’re capable of!”

“That’s what’s so cool-“

“Lewis has a point. We need to be careful,” Emma stated diplomatically. He nodded at her in thanks at her support.

“That’s why I need to measure the range of your new powers.”

“Here we go again,” Cleo reacted uncomfortably, her eyes looking up and shoulders tensing.

Lewis looked at her concerned but then suddenly understood what was going on. She was afraid of these new powers she acquired. She must be terrified of not being in control anymore and he probably hadn’t been helping matters with the way he had been panicking about being attacked and worrying about his tail situation. He decided then and there that he wanted to show her desperately how much he’s there with her all the way. He hated that he had been neglecting her recently because of his own troubles. But he was going to make things right again and fix this.

“I’ll help you through this, Cleo. Don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried,” she smiled but it did nothing to reassure him at the lack of confidence in her own words.

“Every step of the way I’ll be there,” he stated clearly as he caressed her shoulder, making sure she realised how much he cared about her being okay.

“Great. I’m...gonna go get a juice,” she dismissed quickly, jumping away at a moments notice and getting rid of the hand that was on her shoulder.

He frowned in concern at her flighty behaviour, not understanding what he had done to make her react in such a way. He had a brief thought of offering to get the juice for her to make up for whatever wrong thing he’d done or said, but second guessed himself in the end out of fear. He still wasn’t quite over the juice incident yesterday and didn’t trust himself around another smoothie...

“So what has been up with you lately?” Rikki questioned him out of the blue, no beating around the bush.

He froze for a second, taken completely off guard by the sudden interrogation but composed himself into an instant oblivious facade.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about...”

“Oh cut the innocent act. Something’s up. Don’t you go thinking we’ve forgotten about your sudden disappearance yesterday,” she pushed on, arms crossed in front of her and head tilted forward as she stared piercingly into his eyes. She meant business.

“Cleo has said that you’ve been acting a bit strange recently...” Emma added, her words paced cautiously as she looked on at him curiously.

Lewis’ heart was pounding right through his chest. This conversation was not leading into good territory.

“Nothing’s going on, I promise.”

They both looked on sceptically at that. His voice was not quite as steady as he intended it to be.

“Yeah, right,” Rikki snorted.

“We’re just really worried about you, Lewis.”

“Guys, I’m fine. There’s honestly nothing to worry about,” he tried to convince, wanting nothing more than to do away with all this unwanted attention.

“Do you think we’re stupid? We know there’s something bugging you.”

“I...I just...”

“Is it something to do with the last full moon? You have been acting weird ever since then...”

“That was the reason why you called us together yesterday, wasn’t it? Something happened that night, something that you aren’t telling us-“

“No. No. You guys have got it all wrong,” he defended desperately, completely lying through his teeth.

It worried him how close they were to already discovering the truth. It just wasn’t the right time to reveal this all to them now. And besides, he didn’t think he could handle whatever judgement they might have in officially joining their mermaid club. He knew how exclusive those girls could be and he feared they wouldn’t react too kindly finding out that he suddenly was one of them, even though the circumstances were quite accidental. He could only hope they would be understanding enough when the time came to tell them on his own terms, without any drama hanging over their heads.

“Look, just leave it okay?” he sighed, immediately drained from all the lying and secret keeping, “I should actually be getting home. Tell Cleo that I’m sorry for leaving so soon. I’ll see you guys later.”

He picked up his bag and chucked it over his shoulder, leaving before they could ask anymore questions.

Emma looked on in concern as he walked away with slumped shoulders, his head tilted down as he disappeared around the corner.

“Okay, now I feel bad. Maybe you shouldn’t have pushed too hard at him, Rikki.”

“Don’t feel sorry for him. He should know better than to keep secrets from us, and look at Cleo! He’s hurting her all because of it!”

“I don’t know...he just seems really stressed. There must be a good reason why he’s not telling us anything. Lewis doesn’t just lie frivolously, especially to Cleo-“

“What’s this about me?” Cleo interrupted from behind, sitting down with a juice now in her hand. She looked side to side in confusion, “...where’s Lewis?”

“He had to go home for something.”

“Yeah, he said he was sorry for bailing.”

“Oh,” she looked down at her smoothie, sounding almost disappointed. This Lewis thing was just all too confusing for her. One minute he was being completely overbearing and then the next he was just gone, leaving without as much as a goodbye to his girlfriend. Why was he being so hot and cold around her? It was driving her insane!

“Don’t worry about him, Cleo. He’s not worth the effort,” Rikki appeased, trying to be helpful and cheer up her friend. Unfortunately, it didn’t really do much cheering.

“Easier said than done...” Cleo whispered, staring off into the distance, wondering what on earth was going on with her boyfriend.

The girls looked at each other wearily, hating the look that had befallen on their friend’s face and wanting nothing more than to throttle Lewis for worrying Cleo so much. He had some major explaining to do, that was for sure. And they would find out, one way or another.


End file.
